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University Orchestra features student soloist, Russian works, March 8-9

Posted March 5, 2002; 05:29 p.m.

by tbartus

The
Princeton University Orchestra
under the baton of conductor Michael Pratt, will open its spring series of path-breaking Russian works on Friday and Saturday, March 8 and 9, at 8 p.m. in Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall. The concert also will feature violin soloist Alexis Kende '05, co-winner of the 2002 Princeton University Orchestra Concerto Competition.

Alexis Kende is a graduate of the Juilliard Pre-College Division and has studied violin since the age of five. She made her Kennedy Center solo debut in 1998 with the Washington Chamber Symphony. At the age of 12, she was concertmaster of the national Disney Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. With her sisters Crista, viola, and Daniela, cello, she formed The Kende Trio in 1997. In 1999, the Trio performed for the Pope in Rome.

The orchestra's program will open with "Symphonies of Wind Instruments" of Igor Stravinsky. "It is a solemn and beautiful memorial to Claude Debussy from the composer's 'Russian' period," Pratt said. "Filled with echoes of chant and ancient rituals, it is one of Stravinsky's most moving works."

The program will continue with Kende's performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K.219. The program will conclude with "Scheherazade" by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The Russian theme will continue with the Orchestra's April concerts, which will feature Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring."

Tickets are $15; students, $5; available through the Richardson Auditorium
Box Office
. Telephone reservations may be made with Visa and Mastercard by calling 609.258.5000.